Liver regeneration and uraemia.

Rat experiments indicate that chemical antagonism to DNA synthesis may account for the decrease in liver cell replication and lymphocyte responsiveness encountered in liver disease and uraemia. Investigations of the incorporation of [H]thymidine into DNA following CCl induced liver injury indicate that uraemia decreases DNA synthesis in hepatocytes, mesenchymal cells and lymphocytes. Under the conditions of these experiments uraemia had no effect on the severity of the hepatic necrosis and CCl did not significantly change the level of serum urea in nephrectomized animals. Dialysis or heating of uraemic plasma at 56° for 30 minutes abolished its suppressant effect on hepatic DNA synthetic capacity.